Reciprocity
by NerinaB
Summary: AR. Starts out during the occupation of New Caprica, Laura Roslin is arrested and bad stuff goes down. Rated M for torture and nonconsensual sex. ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

She could hear the mechanical footsteps approaching the tent and knew.

"Maya?" She called to the young woman straightening books in the back. Maya came to her quickly, worried by the edge in the former President's voice.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"They're coming…" Maya looked at her sharply and opened her mouth to speak, but Laura cut her off. "They're coming for me. I knew this was going to happen. Tell the rest to proceed according to plan." Maya shook her head.

"We can't do it if they take you… You… You would be killed."

"Maya, promise me you will tell the rest to go ahead."

"Ma'am…"

"Promise me."

"I… I'll tell them."

"Take good care of Isis; don't let anything happen to her…" Laura paused for a moment, reaching into her desk and pulling out a thick envelope. "And please, when the Admiral returns… make sure he gets this." She handed Maya the envelope, her hand trembling slightly.

"I will." Maya quickly pocketed the letter as the Cylon centurions entered the tent, a Doral model between them.

"Dr. Roslin, you are under arrest for conspiring against the joint cylon-colonial government. I suggest you come quietly." She stood slowly, lifting her head as she walked towards him. She glanced once more at Maya before exiting the tent, Maya nodded to her, tears spilling down the young woman's face.

Doral led the way down the dirt street, Laura walking between the two centurions. The people outside turned to watch her being led towards the detention building with frightened expressions. She caught an angry looking Thrace's eye and shook her head slowly. _Do not get yourself killed on my account._ Kara stared back at her, fists clenched at her sides, for a moment before turning and hurrying off into the tents, presumably to tell her fellow resistance members what had just happened.

She was not afraid, she knew Maya would pass on her orders and the rest of the resistance would follow through, she was just sorry she wasn't going to see Bill again. She had known she probably wasn't going to get out of this hell alive but she had hoped she'd be allowed to see him one last time. She shook her head, guess not…

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She was surprised when she was shoved into a holding cell. "If you're going to kill me I'd prefer it if you'd just get it over with."

"Oh, we're not going to kill… Not just yet anyway. There's the small matter of reciprocity to settle first."

"Excuse me?" Doral merely smiled in return, before shutting the cell door and sending her into pitch darkness. She stood still for a moment as his words sank in before sinking to the floor. She couldn't see anything, there was no sound. She felt as though the world were shrinking in on her. She hadn't been afraid to die, she'd been prepared to die for quite awhile, but now that they didn't seem to be interested in killing her, she could feel fear rising within her. Reciprocity… What were they planning?

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She had fallen asleep, waiting for something to happen. Something jolted her out of sleep, someone was moving around in her cell. She sat up quickly, looking around. The cell was still pitch black, she couldn't see a thing.

"Names."

"What?" She turned around, trying to locate the source of the voice.

"Give me names."

"Names?" So that's what they wanted. She wasn't going to tell them anything.

"Don't play stupid." The voice was familiar, she had come in contact with this model before, but which one was it? "We know you're the leader of the rebellion and we know something big is about to go down. We want names." She stayed silent; surely they didn't expect her to betray her fellows just like that. "No? More fun for me then." And a boot collided with her side, knocking her over. She gasped in pain, struggling to right herself.

"All this has happened before and all this will happen again. The roles change but the story remains the same." A different voice this time, this one she remembered… It had haunted her dreams before, it belonged to Leoben.

"I'll ask you again. Who are your fellow rebels? We know their number is substantial. Give us names." Sharon, it was Sharon. Again she remained silent and waited for the next blow. Instead someone grabbed her, hauling her to her feet. "Answer me." She heard Sharon growl. Sharon's face had to be right in front of her own but it was so dark she couldn't even make out an outline. She shook her head, trying to twist out of Sharon's vice-like grip.

"No." She said firmly. She was reward with a hard slap in the face; she felt blood trickle from her nose and onto her lips. She felt Sharon's grip alter.

"We have a plan for you, Laura." Leoben's voice whispered in her ear.

"Names!" Sharon shook her violently.

"No!" Sharon threw her into the wall. She crumbled into a heap on the floor, pain shooting through her back. She struggled to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall.

"We will be back later." Sharon spoke as Laura heard a heavy lock sliding open.

"I'm looking forward to spending more time together." Leoben said as the door opened and Laura was momentarily blinded by the brightness, before the door closed again, returning her to darkness. She slid down the wall, taking a shuttering breath. She wiped at the blood streaming from her nose, she didn't think it was broken. Her ribs on the other hand definitely hurt as did her back. She was going to have some very impressive bruises at the very least, not that she'd be able to see them.

Leoben had spoken of a plan… Is that what they had meant by reciprocity? Torturing her to make up for what they had suffered. Justly suffered in many cases, she reminded herself. Still, the torturing of both Leoben and Gina had been unacceptable. The Cylons had killed billions, but they could also feel pain… fear… She paused, she wasn't sure. They were at war and sometimes terrible things had to be done to save lives… But they had raped Gina… numerous times. She shook her head, in the Cylons' eyes she deserved this and from her point of view they deserved to die, deserved to suffer… to a point she added. She could understand the Cylons hatred towards her… but at the same time, she had not condoned using torture as a method to get information. Most of the killing that had been done, had been done by the pilots of Galactica under the orders of the Admiral… Bill. Her thoughts shifted, she was trying to place blame on others. It was a weak thing to do and for a moment she was filled with self-loathing. People like Baltar blamed others, she took the blame and tried to solve the problem, tried to make things better. She shook her head again; this was a product of her fear. She remembered the argument she had had with Richard before leaving for Galactica's decommissioning ceremony. That too had been her fear looking for an outlet. Though that wasn't quite the same. He had been wrong. Why was she thinking about Adar now? She had mourned his death yes, but after learning what love really was from Bill she had realized how he had used her. She hadn't thought about him for over a year and suddenly she was. She sighed; sometimes even she didn't understand how her mind worked. She reached down and gingerly felt her side. There was a large bump, painful to the touch. She leaned her head back against the hard metal wall. Sharon had said they would be back… How long were they going to be this time? She closed her eyes lightly, how long had she been here? Her internal clock told her that she must have slept for at least a few hours and her stomach told her that she had missed at least one meal. They weren't pulling any punches here. Starvation, total darkness, physical abuse…. But she wouldn't break, she was determined on that, they would kill her before she gave them anything. They know that, she realized suddenly and they had no intention of killing her any time soon. Reciprocity…

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"She's refusing to talk."

"As we knew she would Eight."

"She's stronger than you think Shel- Six."

"So you keep saying."

"I'm serious, you underestimate her."

"Shut up Leoben, we all know how you feel about her."

"My feelings have nothing to with it, Doral. Not only will she not break but she'll fight back. Maybe not physically or visibly, but she'll fight. She's clever, she'll study us just as we study her. She'll find a weakness and exploit it."

"What do you suggest then?" Laura could hear the discussion going on outside her door; she crawled closer, trying to make out all the words.

"Oh, you know what he'd like to do."

"I wasn't asking you, five."

"I have no suggestions that you would agree with. I merely wanted you to know that I think this is a bad idea and I participate in it with strong reservations. And I don't appreciate what you've been insinuating, Doral."

"I don't care if you appreciate it or not, I've seen the way you look at her. Granted if she wasn't responsible for all of this, I might agree with you on that score." Laura was still having trouble making out what was said. What was this about Leoben? What were they discussing?

"Stop arguing you two, the plan goes ahead… unaltered." Plan? Laura listened as footsteps retreated away from her door. She had been waiting for what seemed like hours for Sharon and Leoben to return.

"Shall we get this over with Sharon?"

"You going to help this time?"

She heard the lock sliding back and hastily moved away from the door. Leoben… He had been the only one using their human names, that was interesting… Light filled the room and two figures entered before the door slammed shut.

"Going to talk?" Sharon asked.

"You already know the answer to that." She replied quietly, trying to predict where the blow would come from. Someone shoved her down from behind.

"We're floating in the same river… Stop fighting against the current; join the rest of us swimming easily downstream." She laughed.

"I read Kara's report about you… you're obsession with streams." Someone grabbed her by the back of the neck and pushed her head down, into water, and held her there. She struggled, she couldn't breath. Finally they let her up, gasping for air, coughing. "Reciprocity…" She murmured, still laughing. She couldn't stop laughing… her fear had found an outlet; she knew she was becoming hysterical. They pushed her under the water again and again held her down until her lungs felt as though they were about to burst. She got a grip on her self, gulping down the air, now was not the time to lose her head. "Does this help?"

"Shut up!" Sharon's voice rang out as a fist collided with the side of her face. Then her head was in the water again and again she was denied oxygen until she nearly blacked-out.

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She came to hours later, cold and in pain. Someone was standing over her, prodding her. She pushed herself away from the stranger's hands.

"Calm down… I'm here to take a look at your wounds." She didn't recognize the voice and tensed. Another Cylon… "Eight did quite a number on you… I'm surprised you didn't pass out earlier." She struggled to sit up; biting off the cry of pain she couldn't stop from escaping her. Her side was on fire.

"Careful, don't move too much, you've got two broken ribs and your collar bone is fractured."

"Why are you here?"

"I told you, I'm here to see to your injuries."

"Why bother, you're only going to give me more." She spoke through clenched teeth, aching all over.

"Yes, but we don't want to kill you… for the most part. Eight did get a little carried away though; good thing Leoben stopped her when he did. That wasn't part of the plan." His fingers were feeling her side and she shied away from them. Leoben had stopped Sharon? And again with this plan… "You should be alright. Try and get some rest and don't move too much." She heard his footsteps walking away from her and then the cell was filled with blinding light as the door opened. Darkness returned and she lowered herself back down into a horizontal position. She was extremely hungry and very thirsty. How long were they going to keep this up? She closed her eyes, rest. How long had she been here already, a few days now? She drifted of into a light and troubled doze.

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She was wandering through a forest. It was dark and misty, she couldn't see much more than the looming outlines of the trees around her. A light came from behind her. Turning she saw a Cylon raider flying towards her. She began to run, zigzagging through the trees. Someone was laughing at her; she could hear the raider getting closer and closer behind her, somehow managing to avoid the trees. Suddenly someone grabbed her, pulling her behind a large tree and pinning her against it, a rough hand placed firmly over her mouth. Her eyes widened, once again Leoben was haunting her dreams. He released her once the Cylon raider flew past. "I have a plan for you, Laura, but so do the others. You're at a crossroads, which path do you choose? Neither is easy, but one will save you. Trust me Laura… I want to help you." Then there was a blinding flash and he collapsed, bloody, to the ground in front of her. Doral strode out of the mist towards her, gun aimed on her and a smirk twisting across his face.

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Someone was nudging one of her legs, her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. "You disgust me…" She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising, Doral was inside her cell. "You make me sick."


	2. Chapter 2

She stayed quiet, her mind still reeling with images from her dream. Suddenly he was on top of her, pinning her to the floor. She cried out in pain as some of his weight fell onto her side. She fought with him, trying to force him off her. She screamed as his fists began to pummel her, nearly blacking out again. Then she was blinded as the cell door slid open. Someone pulled Doral off her and towards the door. She couldn't move.

"This was not a part of the plan Doral."

"As long as she's alive, the plan can still go ahead."

"Not if she's permanently damaged." She could hear them struggling with each other, then the cell door closed, blocking out any further noise.

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"Sir!" Gaeta's voice shook him from his reverie.

"Yes?"

"We've received another message on the long range…" Gaeta handed him a print out. "It was transmitted a couple days ago but the signal was so weak it took awhile to get the full message."

"Thank you, Mr. Gaeta." He scanned the paper, it was written in code as the others had been. Kara had obviously been the author this time. It was simple enough to work it out though, he and Kara were close. They were ready to proceed on the ground; all they needed was his signal… It detailed some of the planned attacks, gave locations of enemy deployment. He froze, his eyes on the last sentence of the message.

'School lacks a teacher, Pythia was taken.'

"Mr. Gaeta, how long until we're ready to make the final jump back to New Caprica?"

"If repairs continue on schedule and our recon teams return as scheduled, about four more days, Sir." Four more days… Four more days could be too late.

"Thank you Mr. Gaeta. I'm counting on you to keep those repairs on schedule." He paused, glancing back at the message in his hand. "I'll have a response to this in half an hour; I'll need you to send it back on the same frequency."

"Yes Sir. And sir, supplies are running low… During the rescue mission we should try and resupply as much as possible."

"When the recon raptors get back we'll take that into consideration. Carry on." He returned Gaeta's salute distractedly, already formulating a response in his head.

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"Will she be alright, Simon?"

"I don't know, she's extremely dehydrated. I need to get an IV in her. Once she's stable I'll need to take X-rays." She was flashing in and out of consciousness. She was dimly aware of the walls rushing past her. Everything was so bright. She closed her eyes, fading out.

"The children need a teacher Bill and I am a teacher."

"I need you. We both know it's only a matter of time until the Cylons find us. It's not safe."

"Bill I need to be doing something. There aren't enough teachers as it is."

"Laura, I can't protect you down there."

"With all of your people going planet side, pretty soon you won't be able to protect me up here either. I have to go. Up here I'll only get in the way, I'm not military. I won't be able to help, I'll be useless baggage."

"Laura--"

"I'm going Bill and nothing you say is going to change my mind." And she had stormed out of his quarters, breaking into a run when he called after her. Part of her had wanted to stay but she still had a duty to the people. She could have told him Baltar had ordered her planet side… In hindsight she should have because they hadn't spoken since.

She opened her eyes. It was bright, the light stung her eyes.

"You're the doctor, not me. You're the one who's supposed to…"

"Look, under normal circumstances I wouldn't ask you to, but she's been through hell. If nothing else at least yours is a familiar face. She's extremely dehydrated, she's lost a lot of weight, it'll be quite a while before she'll be able to manage solid food, she's had the tar beaten out of her, and considering the state you found her in, I'm inclined to believe…"

"Alright, alright." Someone approached her. "Laura?" She flinched as a hand came in contact with her shoulder. "Laura, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I-- We need to know what happened." She opened her eyes slowly to see Leoben standing over her. "Can you tell me what happened after I left your cell?" She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "Did… Did Doral come back?" Slowly she nodded, a sob escaping her. Someone was moving at the end of her bed. She looked fearfully over to see a man… a Cylon she'd never seen before. "This is Simon, Laura. He's here to help." She tried to get up, tried to get away from them, but pain exploded in her chest, ripping through the rest of her body.

"Don't move, you'll start bleeding again." The Cylon called Simon moved forward, a look of concern on his face.

"No… Don't" She croaked out as he bent to look at her side.

"Laura, look at me. Look at me." She turned her head, looking fearfully back at Leoben. "I know everything you've been put through is terrible, unforgivable. I know we-- they hurt you. But Simon and I want to help you. Trust me, Laura. We only want to help." She remembered her dream, and looking into his eyes he seemed earnest. She nodded slightly, unable to muster the words.

"I need to know if he… If you were…" Simon struggled for the words, knowing that her psyche was just as fragile as her body right now. She stared at him helplessly.

Leoben let out what could only be described as a growl. "I… He…" He shook his head then looked at her, eyes suddenly filled with a fierce determination. "I'll be back."

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Kara looked round as a boy, one of Laura's students, Tommie, came hurrying towards her looking anxious.

"Excuse me, um… Starbuck, ma'am."

"What is it Tommie?" She'd been helping Maya out at the school since Laura's arrest.

"There's… There's a man looking for you. He says his name is Leoben… He says…" Tommie took a deep breath. "He says he wants to talk to you about… about Ms. Roslin." Kara was suddenly very alert. Leoben… again.

"Where is he?"

"This way." She followed Tommie quickly, wondering what Leoben was up to this time.

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She was trying to fight off the panic she was feeling, she knew she needed to calm down, Simon kept telling her that. He was taking her pulse again, looking worried. Then he looked at the IV.

"You should be sucking down a lot more fluid than this…" He muttered, now turning to examine the machines around her. Her heart was pounding, her instincts kept screaming run! But she couldn't move, she was seriously injured, Simon had mentioned something about surgery… She tensed as he approached her again.

"I'm just going to give you another dose of pain reliever." He injected something into the IV and she began to feel a numbing sensation move through her body. "Try to sleep." He looked at her still wide, frightened eyes. "You're safe here; I'm not going to let anyone near you." She wanted to believe that, she was exhausted; she needed to rest, but… "I don't want to give you a sedative… But you need to sleep so your body can heal." He watched her for a moment longer. "At least try to relax a little. Your heart rate is much higher than it should be…" He left, pulling the curtains closed behind him.

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"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't, but you're never going to get her out without help. Six knows how important she is. You're going to need someone on the inside." Kara studied him for a moment. She didn't like it, but what choice did they have. He was right; they were going to need his help.

"Alright…" She just hoped he was actually going to help. "How… How is she?" She asked after a minute, knowing that the answer was not going to be good. He looked at her, frowning slightly.

"She… She's receiving medical attention as we speak."

"You didn't answer the question. If we are going to work together, you had better tell me the truth." Kara was already beginning to doubt him.

"She…" Kara's doubt turned to confusion as he turned away from her. "She's been beaten… numerous times. She's been starved … She's been…" He straightened, shaking his head. "She's bad, Starbuck, and the sooner we get her off this planet the better." Kara stared at him, starting to put things together.

"You care about her don't you?" Leoben looked back at her.

"Yes." And he was striding quickly away from her. "I'll be back in two days, meet me here." He called over his shoulder before disappearing into the crowd. Kara walked back to her tent, not quite sure what to make about this new information. She froze upon entering, seeing a very familiar pinstripe suit and large grey sweater laid out on the floor.

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"We need to be careful. She's still feverish… She appears to have gotten over the delirium. Did you get in touch with the resistance?"

"Yes… Are we sure that Doral…"

"I'm afraid there's no doubt. When she finally passed out a few hours ago I took a look… She was definitely violated."

"When I found her…"

"I know."

"She was laying there, in a pool of her own blood… naked. I was so afraid that she was dead… I should have been there, I should have stopped him."

"Leoben…"

"I knew he was going to try to… I'd found him in her cell once before."

"Leoben, you had other things you had to see to… It's not your fault."

"I could have done something… I could have tried to get her out."

"And you would have gotten yourself killed, alright. Now stop beating yourself up over the past, you can't change what happened. So make yourself useful."

She had woken up half way through their conversation and now opened her eyes as they pulled back her curtain. Simon went straight to checking her IV and the monitors around her while Leoben stood there, looking uncomfortable.

"Your body's finally taking in some fluid… good." Simon turned to look at her. "You're looking a little better. How are you feeling? Do you need some more pain reliever?" She shook her head. "Can I look at your side? I need to see how you're healing after the surgery." She nodded and he bent over her, pulling back the white sheets. "Still seeping… If that doesn't stop by tomorrow we're going to need to get you a blood transfusion…" Leoben came forward slowly.

"I met with Kara Thrace…"

"And?" She managed, her voice barely more than a whisper. Was she going to get out of here? She didn't know how they were going to manage it, she couldn't move without being in pain and she sure as hell wasn't going to be able to walk. She could barely manage to muster up enough energy to turn her head.

"We're working on getting you out of here… She's still not entirely convinced I'm trustworthy, which isn't surprising, but she knows she's going to need my help. I'm meeting her again in two days." Laura nodded.

"Thank you." She swallowed painfully. Simon lifted a glass of water to her lips.

"Small sips or you'll start retching again."


	3. Chapter 3

"Dradis contact!" Gaeta's voice rang through the half empty CIC. "5 ships… Getting Colonial signals… It's the Pegasus, sir."

"Get me Pegasus Actual."

"Yes sir… Galactica Actual requests to speak to Pegasus Actual." Gaeta handed him the headset.

"Sit-rep, Commander."

"Mission accomplished sir. We also found some friends. We picked up over 1000 survivors, most were resistance fighters. One of the ships is another Tylium refinery, two others are large passenger liners… The fourth was a smuggling ship, it was outfitted with some pretty interesting toys that I think you might want to have a look at."

"We'll start transferring immediately… Can any of these resistance fighters fill some of the positions we lost?"

"Actually, some are from the academy… They survived because they were on a wilderness survival training trip. That group also has a couple military instructors too. We even managed to pick up a few pilots… We should be able to train the rest."

"Good… Once the munitions transfer is under way, I'd like you to meet me in my quarters."

"Yes sir."

"Bring over any status reports you have so I can get a better idea of what we've got… Also, we had… a transmission from the resistance on New Caprica that I'd like to discuss with you."

"Will do, sir. Pegasus Actual out."

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"How's she doing?"

"She's sleeping again… Which is good, she needs to sleep so her body can heal… I'm just worried there's going to be permanent psychological damage. She needs to talk to someone, but she certainly isn't going to talk to us."

"Six is going too far; she's ordered the arrests of all the rest of the religious leaders… That's going to enrage the humans more than anything else…"

"Six came in here earlier… She was asking me about hallucinogens, about their potency and if any were known to give the user prophetic abilities. I thought she was planning to use them herself, but now I'm not so sure… You'll be meeting with the resistance later today, right?"

"Yes, in a couple of hours."

"I think we should make a list of everything you need to talk with them about."

"Make sure I don't forget anything important?"

"That's the idea. Besides, there are some things I'd like clarified. Namely, will they be willing to take us with them when they escape off the planet… I realize that's highly unlikely, but if I have the option of not dying I'd like to know… You do realize that if we do this we're going to die. I mean really die, the others are not going to download us into a new body after this."

"Yes. And if they won't? Will you still do this?"

"Of course I will… I just don't want to die if I don't have to."

"Alright. Anything else you'd like me to mention."

"Bring a map of the lay out of this building to them. I'm going to have her moved to quarantine treatment. It's more secluded and closer to an exit… I'll need you to point out where it is and the best place to land one of their ships… When she wakes up, we'll see about getting her able to walk. I think it would be best if we get her out of the building, that way we don't have to worry about them tripping any alarms."

"Sounds good, you'll let me know if it looks like she'll be able to walk? That would make things easier."

"And… Tell Starbuck… Apologize to her for me."

"I will."

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Doral was on top of her, pinning her down. She couldn't move. "Where are your Gods now, prophet?" He punched her, hard, in the stomach. She was struggling against him, but she couldn't move her arms or her legs. She twisted madly, trying to loosen his grip. "They aren't going to save you. They don't exist. Say it!"

She shook her head. He smacked her across the face.

"Say it!" His grip was tightening.

"No!" His hands slid from her arms to the front of her shirt. "No!" She was screaming, she couldn't move and his hands… Oh Gods, make his hands stop.

She woke up, still screaming, to find she'd been strapped down to the bed. Simon rushed in.

"Get these off of me!"

"I'm sorry, you were thrashing around in your sleep, I was afraid you'd do yourself injury." He came forward, and began to undo the restraints on her legs.

"Don't ever restrain me like that again!" He paused, frowning, then glanced up at her. The look on his face was odd. "What?"

"Sorry." He resumed releasing the straps. "You just reminded me of Starbuck when…" He stopped talking, realizing that he shouldn't have said anything. She was struck with a realization.

"You're the Cylon doctor that operated on Kara? What did you do to me? What was this surgery for?" Why hadn't she figured it out earlier? His name was Simon, how stupid could she be?

"Calm down--"

"Calm down? I've talked with Kara, she told me all about her stay at your hospital--"

"Calm down before you hurt yourself. When Leoben brought you to me, one of your ribs was sticking out of your skin and you were bleeding internally as well as externally. Another one of your ribs had punctured a lung. If I hadn't operated then you would have died." He paused to let that sink in. "I truly regret what I did to Kara… I was following orders. I know that's no excuse and that there's no way I can ever make up for what she went through. I haven't done anything to you other than what was necessary to keep you alive." She suddenly noticed that her surroundings had changed.

"Where am I?" She would believe him for now; she didn't really have any other choice.

"I had you moved to make it easier for you to escape when the time comes."

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Lee was reading the message. "They've taken our President." He said as Lee's eyes reached the bottom of the page.

"What's the plan?" Lee asked, eyes gleaming with anger. Bill smiled, that's my son…

"We outfit every raptor we have with two warheads. Each jumps for one of their basestars, fires their warheads, then jumps back. We'll jump in and keep the Cylons away from the civilian transports. The transports land and pick up the civvies. We'll coordinate this with the resistance so they'll be ready. It'll be a little more complicated than that but that's basically it. Once we have more information, we'll plan the rescue mission for the President." His comm. rang and he reached over for it scowling. "What?"

"We've had another transmission from the resistance, sir."

"I'm on my way."

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"Leoben will be coming soon…"

"Are you sure we can trust him Starbuck?"

"You didn't hear him talking about her… We know there's infighting between the Cylons, we've seen it. And at this point, Chief, we don't really have a choice." Cally came running into the tent, her son on her hip.

"They're taking people."

"But that's Father Norrec… Why would they take him?" They watched as the unfortunate priest was marched away.

"I don't--" There was a commotion up the street. Pushing their way through the crowd, they saw a woman had been surrounded by Centurions.

"Sarah…" Zarek murmured, coming to stand next to Kara.

"The Geminese Quorum delegate?" Zarek nodded, his eyes blazing.

"They've crossed the line this time. Taking Roslin was one thing, she was the leader of the resistance, but the people they're arresting now are complete innocents." He made to move towards the Cylons but Kara grabbed his arm.

"Don't be stupid. They'll only arrest you too. We need you; you're our only source of information on Colonial One." She hissed. He wrenched his arm out of her grip and walked forward. "Frakking idiot." she cursed.

"On what grounds are you arresting these people? They are peaceful citizens and are no danger to the… government."

"On the contrary, they are amoung the most dangerous of all… And I think you better come a long as well, Mr. Vice President." A Centurion prodded him next to their other captive.

"They're taking all the religious leaders…" Leoben whispered in Kara's ear.

"Wha--" He interrupted her.

"The prophet was the first to be taken, but Six wasn't sure it would be enough… I have a lot of things to discuss with you."

"Right, this way." They moved quickly through the crowd and back into the tent city, walking towards a tent that looked like all the rest but today was functioning as the resistance HQ. Stepping inside they were met by a familiar face.

"I got your message Starbuck…" Bill paused staring at Leoben. "What is that doing here?" Leoben smiled, it was good to know some things never changed.

"Uh, this is the insider I mentioned in the last transmission…" Kara replied nervously, she hadn't thought that the Admiral would come himself when she had requested that someone from the Galactica come down so that there wouldn't be any miscommunication at this critical point.

"Admiral." Leoben stepped forward, hand extended, knowing full well that the Admiral wouldn't accept it. He smirked when the Admiral glanced down at his outstretched hand and then looked back up at him scowling.

"Let's not push it."

"Of course." Leoben replied still grinning. "Well, I have a lot to say so we should probably get started…" He took a large folded piece of paper out of a pocket and spread it out on the floor. "This is a map of the detention building's lay out…"

------------------

"How's she doing?" Simon turned away from watching his patient forcing herself to stumble across the room and back.

"She's gained 5 pounds, which is good… Although 65 pounds is still dangerously low." He paused, turning back to watch as she leaned heavily against a wall, her breathing labored. "She knows who I am… She's not speaking to me, but she's listening which is better than I had expected. She shouldn't be able to walk more than a few steps, but she's got to be the most strong willed person I've ever met… Starbuck included." Leoben listened to him, his eyes also on the incredible woman struggling in front of them.

"She is a remarkable woman…" He murmured in response. "I talked with resistance. It'll happen tomorrow… Will she be ready?"

"She shouldn't be, but she'll make it… Did you bring up my concern?"

"Yes… After a rather intense argument, the Admiral finally agreed to give us 'sanctuary'."

"The Admiral was there? How did that go?"

"It was interesting… That man fascinates me almost as much as she does… It figures they'd fall in love."


	4. Chapter 4

Bill sat at his desk, holding the thick envelope he'd been given by a young woman named Maya. He wasn't sure if he should open it or not. Laura had clearly written whatever it contained believing she was going to die, which was not going to happen if he had anything to say about it.

Towards the end of their meeting he had noticed a young woman enter the tent, a small child on her hip. She had waited nervously just inside of the tent flap for the meeting to end, her eyes flicking from him to the floor and back again.

"Can I help you?" He had walked up to her once Leoben had ducked out of the tent behind her.

"I uh… I have a message to give to you… er sir." He smiled, trying to put her at ease. She pulled a thick envelope out from under her sweater and handed it to him. His mouth went dry when he recognized the hand writing across the front. "She wanted me to give this to you… She thought she was going to be executed. I don't know…" She stopped, not sure what she was trying to say. He looked at her, she looked familiar.

"You're Maya." It wasn't a question. She nodded, shifting the small toddler to her other hip. Although he hadn't been allowed to contact any of those on the planet besides the office of the president and a few of his old men, he'd managed to keep taps on his teacher. "And… Is this Isis?" Maya beamed, looking down at the little girl.

"Yes, this is Isis." She looked back up at him smiling. She obviously didn't know what the child was but then again he shouldn't know either. It had hurt him that Laura hadn't told him but he understood now. Maya had noticed his apparent interest in her little girl. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked, holding her out to him.

"Uh…" He took the girl from her carefully not sure how that had just happened. He was holding the Cylon hybrid child. Then he noticed a faint but familiar smell, the floral perfume he always associated with Laura. "You and Ms. Roslin were close?"

"Oh yes. When she first came down she didn't know where to go or what to do really. I found her in the school tent that first night slumped over the desk. She's been sharing my tent ever since. She's been like a second mother to Isis."

He stared down at the letter again then slowly opened the envelope. He quickly realized this wasn't one really long letter but a lot of shorter ones and drawings. He picked up the first.

Bill-

I realize that you'll probably never read this seeing as all communication between us has been cut off thanks to the wonderful doctor but I'd like to pretend that you will, just so I might still have you to confide in. I'm sorry for what I said to you, Baltar ordered me planet side. I should have told you… I didn't want to go, I would have loved to stay with you, but at the same time my people needed me even if they didn't realize it.

I've only been here a week and I hate it. It's cold and wet and muddy… Everything is filthy, tents, clothes, people, all of it. Sickness is running rampant down here. I've been here barely seven days and I've already lost a student! How can they fool themselves that this is our salvation, our oasis, our new home?

I miss you. More than I thought I would. One week and it feels like the only thing keeping me going, making me get up each morning, is the thought that you are doing the same above my head.

Maya took me in, the young woman I'm teaching with. I had stepped off the raptor into the mud and was ushered into a meeting with our esteemed president where I was informed that not only was I not allowed to contact the fleet but also he had failed to have someone set up a tent for me. He suggested I spend the night at the school until he got me a tent. He still hasn't by the way. Maya found me there, sobbing on the desk. It was really rather embarrassing.

If nothing else at least the children are keeping me busy. I've missed teaching so much over the past years. I never did enjoy politics. It was a way of making things better but I hated the game. The children all work very hard, I think they're glad of the normalcy of attending school after all the uncertainty of the past year. Though nothing about this will ever be normal to me.

I can't seem to be optimistic anymore. I know in my heart that this is a terrible mistake; it's only a matter of time before the Cylons find us. And soon too many of your people will be down here and you won't be able to protect us. Of course we may not last long enough for the Cylons to finish us off. Between the diseases and Baltar's leadership we'll all be dead soon anyway. Now I'm becoming even more morbid. That wasn't what I had intended when I started writing this. Well with any luck the masses, or what's left of them, will realize their mistake before it's too late and impeach the asshole.

-Laura

Bill turned the letter over to find an extremely unflattering but surprisingly accurate drawing of Baltar, apparently bashing himself against the wall, one hand pulling his tie tight around his neck. Smiling slightly he picked up the next letter and began to read.

-----------------

She was sitting carefully on the floor, her back against the wall. Simon had been called away and told her to rest until he got back which she was only to happy to do seeing as she felt like she was going to pass out any second now. She'd been pushing herself through his incredibly painful and long exercises refusing to stop whenever he suggested a break. She wanted out of here and she was not going to be denied freedom because she was too weak to reach for it. The door opened and she turned expecting to see Simon.

"Looks like someone's been working very hard…" The leggy blonde took in her shaking legs, pale complexion, and sweat dampened hair. Laura levered herself up into a standing position using the wall.

"What do you want?" The blonde just smiled and walked towards her. She was getting really sick of them doing that. Then she noticed the syringe hanging from one of the woman's hands. She didn't know what was in it but she didn't want to find out. "There was no medical emergency… Was there?" She said backing away, her trembling legs aching in protest. She shouldn't have pushed herself so hard.

"Actually there was… I rigged the equipment. Sharon's sacrifice will not be forgotten."

"I'm glad to hear you care so deeply for your pawns." She muttered, still eyeing the syringe warily. Six noticed her preoccupation with it and raised it to eye level.

"Don't worry Laura, it won't hurt. Just a prick and it'll be over."

"Really?" She highly doubted that.

"You survived being a seer once you'll survive it again." A seer? Oh Gods, she's referring to the chamalla induced visions.

"You don't want to do this."

"No, I really think I do." Six was right in front of her now, cornering her against the wall. "We have our own scriptures Laura, and you play a very important role in them as well." She struggled, trying to keep the needle from puncturing her skin. "Don't fight destiny." She was screaming for help, both her hands wrapped around six's wrist, holding it back. She knew it wouldn't be long before Six's strength won out, Simon wasn't there, no one was there to hear her screams. And then the needle sank into her arm and she was injected with the slightly green liquid it was carrying.

-------------------

He had finished reading all the letters; it had taken him a good three hours. He now sat with two of her drawings laid on the table in front of him. One was what appeared to be a watercolor painting of the entire settlement at sunset. Once again the detail took his breath away. It was a beautiful painting, somehow managing to convey both hope and sorrow. The other was a drawing of himself. She had somehow managed to catch a glimpse of him coming off a raptor before a meeting with Baltar. This one was by far the most detailed; it was obvious she had spent hours on it somehow managing to recreate the scene from her memory. It hurt to think that she might have been in the crowd and he hadn't even noticed her.

"You requested to see me sir." He looked up to see Kat standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Yes." He stood up, returning her salute. "I have a mission for you." Kara or his son would have been his first choice for this but since both of them had other things to see to…

"A mission sir?" A mission? Kat beamed, finally she was getting the recognition she deserved.

"The Cylons have arrested a number of our people on the planet. Most of them are being held in holding cells on the south side of this building." He pulled out a copy of the layout Leoben had brought to the meeting. "But the Pres—" He cleared his throat. "They've moved Laura Roslin to the other side of the building, I need you to land a raptor in the trees to the north and lead a rescue team in to get her out."

Kat had heard rumors about the supposed relationship between the old man and former President and she now noticed the letters partly hidden by the layout on the table. This was big; he was trusting her with this. "I can do that." He looked at her, I hope so…

"I know you can…" He continued to brief her on the rescue mission but couldn't help feeling uneasy. He knew all about Kat's growing ego, he hoped it wouldn't get in the way.

-------------------

She was wandering down a hallway. She knew she was being chased, but she couldn't run. She turned a corner coming face to face with Leoben.

"Quickly, this way." He grabbed her hand, hurrying down another hallway. Then a door opened in front of them and Doral stepped out and shot Leoben. Leoben crumpled to the floor, blood dripping from his mouth. Doral then turned his gun on her and a second gun shot was fired.

There was the sound of guns exploding all around her, people were screaming, running.

The scene shifted again. Zarek was shielding the geminese quorem member Sara from an onslaught of Centurions. Dead bodies littered the corridor in front of him, she recognized members from the resistance. There was an explosion, the wall was blown in and Anders and group of more rebels poured in firing into the Centurions and ushering Sara outside. Two other members lifted Zarek's body from the rubble, a large red blotch on the side of his face.

Baltar was running, being drug behind that blonde as Colonial One erupted with gunfire. They boarded a heavy raider and took off.

Again in a hallway, she turned the corner and Bill was before her. "It's alright, you're safe now." His arms were around her, lifting her.

"Her heart rate's slowing down… I think she's coming round." Laura opened her eyes slowly, her head was pounding. Simon moved into her line of view. "You were injected with a highly concentrated dose of Chamalla. I've given you something that should help counteract its effects." She nodded blurring her vision slightly. "I'm sorry…" He wasn't sure what to say but she nodded again. "We'll be leaving in four hours, are you up to it?"

"No, but I will be. Where's Leoben?"

"Getting things ready…" He paused. "Kara will make sure all of your things get packed and picked up. Tonight the Admiral returns."

-------------------

Kat punched in the jump coordinates and hit the jump drive, re-appearing in the atmosphere around New Caprica. She barely had time to take in the battle raging around her before having to fight the raptor controls, forcing the bird into a dangerous descent path. "Hope everyone's buckled in." She shouted over the engine at the marines behind her. "This is going to be a bumpy ride."

-------------------

"It's time." Simon helped her off the hospital bed. "Are you ready? I could try to find a wheel chair…"

"No, let's go." She gritted her teeth following his lead out of the room.

"Leoben will meet up with us at the end of this hall way, he's making sure it stays clear." She nodded, not wanting to waste any energy on talking. There was a shout from behind them and Simon swore. "Keep going, Leoben's just up ahead. I'll catch up." Then he turned and sprinted back down the way they had come.


	5. Chapter 5

She stood there for a moment, looking back the way they had come, trying to see what had happened, before coming to her senses and continuing down the hall, using the wall for support. She was almost there, just a few more feet to the end of the hallway. A shot rang out behind her, the bang echoing off the walls. Instinctively, she ducked, huddling against the wall. There was the sound of running feet and then someone was behind her.

"Are you alright?" She turned to see Simon, panting, standing behind her and Leoben hurrying towards them.

"What happened? The whole idea was to keep quiet." Leoben frowned at Simon.

"Sorry… But Doral decided that now would be a great time to visit the infirmary… I was going to just knock him out but then he said…" Simon glanced at her and apparently decided not to repeat what Doral had said.

"Right." Leoben mimicked Simon and glanced at her as well. As if she didn't feel self conscious enough, dressed in this hideous grey hospital gown. "We're going to need to move fast now."

"You better take this. It's a medical record of your time here." Simon handed her a folder he had been carrying. "Your doctor will need to see it."

"Why—"

"Because your doctor will need to see it and I may not make it out of here." Simon answered her question before she could finish it. Leoben ushered her through a door, as the full weight of what he was saying hit her. This man, this Cylon, was risking his life for her, in fact knew that he was probably going to die but was still helping her. "Look, it may be hard to imagine, but some of us do in fact have a conscience. I don't want to add you to the long list of sins." She nodded, not sure what to say to that. How could Cylons be so different them and yet so human…

Simon hurried ahead as Leoben moved up next to her. "How're you holding up?"

"I'll make it."

"On sheer force of will if necessary." He smiled at her. Was he too trying to quiet his conscience? "You never cease to amaze me Laura." She turned away from him, feeling uncomfortable. Conscience… not so much.

An enormous explosion rocked the building, causing all three of them to stumble. And then the shooting started. Leoben steadied her, she had nearly fallen over.

"Sounds like your rebels… Come on." He half carried her as they made their way through the Labyrinth-like hallways. The sound of gunshots was getting quieter, and they hadn't encountered anyone since Doral… This might actually work.

"We're coming in too close, they'll see us."

"No we're not. Now shut up and do your job." Kat growled. Why had they switched her ECO! She did not need this guy questioning her every move. She heard one of the marines behind her murmur something to the others and felt her anger building. As a result her landing was a bit rougher than it should have been. "Alright, everybody out. Set up a perimeter." She barked as she swung round in her chair.

-------------------

She was in shock, it had happened so fast. They had rounded a corner, then one shot had been fired, Simon had crumpled, and then Leoben had fired off a round. Now she stared, horrified, at the two bodies in front of her. The woman looked familiar… Diana Biers?

"She's—"

"Yes." Leoben pulled her away. "Quickly, this way." Somewhere in her mind a signal went off, danger! But she was still struggling with what had just happened, the signal went unnoticed. Suddenly a door opened in front of them. Now her mind was screaming.

"Leoben…" Too late, Doral rounded the door, gun raised, and then fired. Leoben fell and Doral's eyes came to rest on her. "No…" Her voice a rough whisper. She took a step back as a smirk curled across his face. Then a second shot rang and time seemed to stop. For a moment they hung there then Doral fell to his knees, his eyes widening in surprise. She looked down to see a bloody hole in his chest before he slipped sideways, blood dripping from his mouth.

"Laura." Leoben was still alive, propped up on one elbow, gun in the other hand. "You're almost out…" He grimaced and coughed, spraying blood across the floor. "Map… In my pocket." She knelt and searched his pockets, finding the map. She spread it out for him. "We're here" He marked the spot with a blood smear then marked another point with his blood. "Door…" He nodded, pushing the map at her. She stared at the map, then looked back up at him.

"Thank you." She didn't know what else to say. He and Simon had died for her. He smiled at her.

"Go… Say hello to the Admiral for me." She stood shakily and again looked at the map, it didn't look that far… When she looked back at Leoben, his eyes were closed and after a moment she realized he had stopped breathing. Her own breath hitched and she felt moisture collecting at the corners of her eyes. The gunfire that had been getting fainter was now increasing in volume. She didn't have the time, she would mourn later. Consulting the map she made her way toward the door Leoben had marked.

She hadn't gone far when the sound of gunfire began to sound ahead of her as well. She was caught between two battles. She glanced down at the map, head away from the sound of gun fire… She turned and started to follow a longer route towards that door, behind which lay her freedom. She hadn't quite made it to the end of the hallway when her legs gave out and she fell hard onto the cement floor. She wasn't going to make it… she had to make it. She pushed herself up, clinging to the wall. Ignoring the burn, she started to move forward again. She would get out of here, even if she had to crawl.

-------------------

"Sir! We're getting a distress signal from raptor 1329." He turned towards Helo, his heart clenching. 1329 had been Laura's rescue team…

"On the speakers." He ordered. A second latter frantic shouts reverberated through the CIC.

"Galactica, repeat, this is raptor 1329. We are under fire, have sustained heavy damage." There was a nasty scream and a new voice took over. "Galactica, this is Kat. It's a frakking blood bath down here. We can't get off the ground, I've got dead. Requesting assistance." Her voice cut off and there was silence for a few moments then… "Galactica, this is Pig. We are lost, repeat, lost. Do not attempt recovery." There was a pause, during which muffled gunshots and shouts were all that could be heard. "I told her we were coming in too close… I told her…" The transmittion cut off again. Bill waited but nothing more came.

"Helo."

"Sir?"

"Get me a four man strike force. Have them meet me in the hangar deck." He was not going to leave her behind. "You have command until I return… If I'm not back for the jump, jump anyway." He strode out of CIC, before Helo could respond. Once the door shut behind him, he broke into a run, making his way to the hangar deck. For the first time he was glad the hallways were deserted.

He pulled a knuckle-dragger aside. "Get me a raptor."

"Yes sir." He turned to see the strike force team forming up behind him. Looking them over he noticed one of them was the Corporal Venner that had guarded Laura's cell over a year ago. He nodded, satisfied with the three men and one woman in front of him.

"This is a rescue mission…"

-------------------

She leaned against the door, listening, wondering how much longer they were going to stand there. She was so close, two hallways away from the door. She guessed she should be counting her blessings, after all there might not have been a store room here. And they were still talking… They were the same model, how much could they possibly have to say to each other? She sank down to the floor, clutching her medical record and the map to her chest, deciding she might as well take the time to rest. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes to block out the harsh lighting. She was close, she would make it. And she hoped if she kept telling herself that, she might start to really believe it.

-------------------

They were in the air, and soon he would have them on the ground, and then they would find Laura and get her out of this hellhole. Then he planned to show her just how sorry he was for leaving her and how much he loved her, which if truth be told he was rather looking forward to.

"Everybody strapped in?" He called as he began their descent to the surface. He was pleased to see that many of the civilian transports were already returning to the air and making the jump. Things were moving quickly.

He carefully brought the raptor in to land, 3 clicks north of the detention building. "We're going to need to move fast. Everybody out, Corporal Venner, take point." He said, swiveling round to face his men.

"Yessir." Venner jumped down and moved forward, weapon raised. The other three quickly followed his lead. The Admiral paused for a moment, before jumping down into the mud, to raise a pray to the gods he hadn't believed in. Prayed that she was alive, that she was alright… that she would forgive him.


	6. Chapter 6

They were arguing now. How long had they been at it? Suddenly there was a gunshot and something heavy thudded against the door. One of them had just shot the other. That was like him shooting himself. She listened for a few minutes to make sure the shooter was gone before pushing against the door. It didn't move. She pushed harder and managed to inch it open a crack. That's when she saw the arm. The dead cylon was laying against the door. She couldn't believe it, she was so close and she was trapped in a broom closet by a dead cylon. If she wasn't so exhausted and the situation not so dire she might have been amused at just how ludicrous this was. She placed both hands against the metal of the door, spread her feet, and pushed. She kept pushing until she felt light headed. She sat down slowly, and looked at the progress she'd made. There was no way this was going to work. She pulled herself closer to the crack she'd made. She couldn't believe she was going to do this… but she didn't have any choice. She reached through the door and grabbed onto the dead cylon's arm and pulled. His hair came into view. She moved her grip lower down on his arm, swallowing back the bile, and heaved again. Now she was staring into his dead eyes. She closed her eyes and pulled yet again, her stomach protesting the prolonged contact with the dead body.

-------------------

"Three civilian transports and two supply ships still on the ground, sir…"

"Right, get me Galactica actual."

"Yes sir." Lee accepted the head set from Dee.

"This is Lt. Agathon, go ahead Commander."

"Helo? Where's the Admiral?"

"Uh. Kat's raptor was lost… He took a strike force team and left to complete her mission himself."

"What? Damn it." Lee knew why his father had gone; he also knew how stupid that was. "Alright… Helo, take the Galactica and jump to the rendezvous coordinates to protect the fleet. Pegasus will stay for the last few ships."

"I— The Admiral ordered that all ships jump by the appointed time even if his raptor wasn't back. "

"You have your orders Lieutenant." Lee cut the line. Damn it, Dad, you better come back alive and with her.

-------------------

A little less than a click away from the detention center they found Kat's raptor. She had come in too close and been spotted before they'd hit the ground. The cylon centurions had done a number on them.

"Venner, Brin, cover the front. Gin, Thompsen, quick search for survivors." Bill ordered, though he didn't think they'd find any. A few minutes later and his prediction was confirmed.

"No survivors sir. They're all dead…"

"Right, keep moving. We're on the clock here." He glanced at his watch again, they had a little less than two hours if they were going to make it back to Galactica before the jump. They made their way quickly and quietly. About fifteen minutes later, Venner's arm went up, signaling a halt. He motioned the Admiral forward.

"Sir, we lose the tree cover just up ahead. There's a good 300 feet or so of open ground to cross to get to the building… I didn't see any guards, but that doesn't mean they aren't there." Bill nodded, and signaled for everyone to move again. When the reached the tree line, they stopped again, studying the area in front of them. As the corporal had said there were no visible babysitters.

"Alright, we don't have the time, so we'll just have to sprint it." Which was what they did… And nothing happened. No shots were fired, nothing exploded… The cylons seemed to be occupied else where, which was fine to them. The door of course was locked, but it only took a minute or two to jimmy it open, and then they were in.

-------------------

She leaned back against the door, now finally on the other side. She was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted and she still needed to keep going. She squeezed her eyes shut. She could do it and when she got back to the Galactica she'd sleep for a week. Sleeping sounded like a very good idea… But not right now, she opened her eyes and pushed herself off the wall. She stood swaying for a moment before forcing her legs to move. Slowly, painful step after painful step, she walked, her vision hazy, her head pounding. The hallway stopped and so did she. "Need to turn…" Which was apparently too difficult for her spent body to handle. She swayed, then stumbled to the side- hitting the wall.

-------------------

They moved cautiously down the hallway, guns at the ready. About half way down there was movement from up a head. Slowly a ghostly thin figure materialized around a corner. Bill recognized the flaming mane of hair and couldn't believe it. She stopped, swaying. Bill realized she was about to fall and ran towards her. She stumbled into the wall and he managed to grab her as she began to slide towards the floor.

"It's alright, you're safe now, Laura." And he wrapped his arms around her, and easily lifted her off the floor.

"Bill?" She croaked, she could hear him but he seemed far away.

"It's alright, I've got you." He turned back to his marines. "Let's move. Brin take point, Venner bring up the rear." Everything was going to be okay. She was alive and he had her and it was going to be okay…

"Sir, we've got company!" The sound of the clanking metal footsteps and Venner's shout interrupted his thoughts. They ran for the door, but the cylons started firing before they made it. Thompsen was hit, Venner was firing back. Brin reached the door.

"Get her out, we'll hold them back." If he hadn't had Laura in his arms, he would have argued, but right now his primary concern was getting her off this planet.

"Follow right behind, no unnecessary heroics." He ordered before making for the cover of the woods. He didn't stop, but plowed forward.

Laura was struggling to stay conscious. She was vaguely aware of the sound of gunshots and flashes of movement… There was a fight… She could smell plants and smoke… She shook her head trying to focus, but that only made the pounding worse. The last thing she heard before succumbing to the darkness was Bill's voice telling her to hang on.

-------------------

"Damn it Dad, come on." Lee's eyes were fixed on the clock counting down to the jump deadline. There was a little less than an hour left, the last transport ship had made the jump, and the last supply ship was lifting off the ground now. Lee didn't think he'd be able to leave his father behind, not now after everything that had happened in the last two and half years. He really didn't want to abandon Laura Roslin either. "Come on Dad…"

"Sir the Supply ship is making the jump to the rendezvous coordinates."

"Begin jump prep and wait for my command." Now whether he would give that command when the time came…

-------------------

"We're half way there Laura." Bill panted, ducking to avoid hitting his head on a low hanging branch. He couldn't hear anything other than his own pounding feet and thumping heart. He hoped that his men had made it out, but his gut told him they were gone. He couldn't hear any sounds of pursuit, but he was sure the cylons were after them, they weren't going to give up that easily. Especially not when they'd just lost everything else. He couldn't slow down, he had to keep going. He hadn't piloted a jump in a raptor in a long time; he didn't want to now if he didn't have to.

-------------------

Less than half an hour on the clock and Lee was beginning to feel panicked. "Come on Dad, Come on…" He wasn't the only one watching the clock, everyone in CIC that had been transferred from the Galactica to the Pegasus were staring fixedly at it as well.

"Sir! A basestar just jumped into orbit!" Luckily there were still a few people keeping an eye on the Dradis.

-------------------

"Almost there." He rasped. He could definitely hear the cylons chasing them now. "Almost there." He burst into the clearing where he'd landed the raptor. They were inside, he was sealing the hatch, the cylons were firing, a bullet grazed his leg. He clenched his teeth, slamming the hatch shut. Turning, he pulled Laura up and set her into the co-pilot chair. He punched the controls, lifting them off the ground. He glanced at his watch they weren't going to make it. Looking at his leg he decided it wasn't bad, then turned back to the controls, man handling the raptor back into orbit.

-------------------

The clock had run down five minutes ago.

"Sir, we can't stand against these Basestars, we have to jump now or we'll lose the ship." Dee looked at him, her eyes conveying her sympathy. "I'm sorry Lee but we have to jump."

"Recall the vipers, execute jump." He ground out, his hands white-knuckled on the table in front of him.

"He'll make it Lee, he always does." She tried to reassure him as the pod bays were retracted. Lee didn't respond, didn't trust himself to speak. He felt the familiar sensation of everything squeezing in on him and then they were out of the jump, the rest of the fleet around them. Lee felt as though he'd left parts of himself behind…

-------------------

The turbulence of the atmosphere jostled her into consciousness in time to hear Bill swear. She moved her head trying to see what was wrong. Bill was staring at the dradis screen… She looked at, trying to make it come into focus… Three large red dots swam into view. She scanned the rest of the dradis for any sign of green but found none. They were alone with three cylon ships. She returned her eyes to Bill to see him with his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. That did not make her feel better.

"Bill?" He looked up and seeing she was awake smiled… but the smile quickly faded.

"We've got a bit of situation… I'm going to need your help if you're up to it." She didn't feel up to it but then again she hadn't felt up to anything that had been thrust upon her since the day the cylons attacked the colonies. She nodded.

"Alright, I need you to go back there," He gestured behind him. "And look in the packs. There should be an odd circular device in one of them." She nodded again, swiveled round and pushed herself out of the chair and immediately felt light headed. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." She lied, and, using the ECO consol to steady herself, made her way back to the packs and began to dig through them.


	7. Chapter 7

"Sir, Colonial One is requesting permission to land." Lee frowned.

"Patch me through to them." He picked up a handset. "This is Commander Adama."

"Hey, Apollo."

"Starbuck?" He was startled to hear her voice.

"You going to let us on the beast or what?"

"What are you doing on Colonial One?"

"The Old Man refused to let me help rescue Laura so I figured the next best thing would be to get all the dirt bags off her ship so she'd have her home to go back to… Lee, the ship got chewed up pretty badly and she's in need of some TLC from your knuckle draggers. So you mind letting us in?" Her irritation was plain.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He nodded to Dualla to let them on, then continued. "Kara, um… The Old Man and Laura are still missing."

"What?"

"I'll explain once you're on board."

-------------------

Bill glanced at the chair she had just vacated and noticed a brown folder laying on it. Looking closer, he noticed it had her name on it. He stared at it a moment before flipping it open. He quickly realized that it was a medical record of her time in detention. He closed it quickly, not wanting to invade her privacy.

"Is this it?" He looked back and nodded when he saw her holding up the cylon device.

"Yeah that's it. Press down on both sides to activate it." She did as he said and the thing began to glow red. Realization dawned on her.

"Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes… Hopefully that will prevent them from attacking us as long as we keep out of visual range…" He paused again, wondering if she would be up to what he was about to ask her. "I'm going to need you to be my ECO-" She cut in before he could finish.

"What? I don't know anything about-" And he cut her off.

"I'll walk you through what I'm going to need you to do, but I am going to need you to do it. To get a good FTL fix I'm going to need to get out of the planet's atmosphere. As soon as I do that we'll probably be spotted by the cylon raiders." She stared at him. She didn't know anything about how to fly a raptor…

-------------------

"Kat? Why the frak did he send Kat?" Kara was pacing Lee's quarters angrily.

"Kara, that doesn't matter. The point is they are still back on New Caprica and there are at least three basestars between them and us." Lee replied, trying to get her to focus on the present. If his father didn't show up soon, he would need her out the box thinking.

"Damn it." Kara growled, before flopping onto the couch.

"My thoughts exactly."

-------------------

"Alright, ready?"

"Bill, I don't think this is a very good-"

"Laura, it's the only way we're going to be able to make the jump." He paused, she still looked very uncertain. "Do you need me to go over any of it again?"

"No, I remember… It's just…" She looked down at the consol in front of her. "Nevermind… I'm ready." But she wasn't. She was scared. She didn't have any sort of military training. What if she made a mistake? What if she froze up?

"Alright, here we go." And he moved the raptor forward. After a few moments they had cleared the atmosphere. The destruction from the rescue was still evident. Bits and pieces of basestars were still burning around them. There were quite of few parts of raiders floating around too, but not all the raiders had been taken out. There were still plenty of them bugging out around them, and some of them had noticed their raptor and were closing in.

He began shouting orders to her, while making sharp turns and dives to keep them from being hit. She hesitated for a moment, then began to carry out the tasks he was asking of her. He was counting on her and she was not going to let him down, not after everything he must have gone through to come back for her. The raptor continued to buck under them as he tried to elude the raiders. She was trying to keep up with what he was telling her to do, but her vision kept blurring making it difficult. She wasn't sure how long they had been at this, but surely they could make the jump now. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep herself up right.

"Hold on, were jumping." He called back over his shoulder. And as the world folded in on itself she slipped sideways, her head banging against the metal edge of the consol before slumping to the floor.

-------------------

"Dradis contact." Helo looked up at the screen as a small ship jumped in a few clicks from the fleet's position. "Getting colonial signatures… It's the Admiral's raptor!" Gaeta shouted out.

"Open the landing bay and patch me through to Pegasus." Helo responded, extremely relieved that the Old Man was back.

-------------------

Lee grabbed the comm. unit from the wall. "Commander Adama."

"Sir, the Admiral's raptor just jumped onto dradis. He's landing on the Galactica." Lee grinned in relief; the Old Man had done it again.

"Thank you, I'll be in CIC in a moment." He put the comm. back and turned to Kara. "He's back, come on." And together they sprinted to CIC.

-------------------

"Welcome back, sir."

"Thank you, Lt. Agathon. It's good to be back." He glanced back at Laura to see her slumped over, a pool of blood forming around her head. "We're going to need a med team, the President's injured."

"Yes sir." Bill landed the raptor quickly and was out of his seat as soon as the ship was on the hanger deck, wincing slightly at the pain in his leg. He lifted her head gently into his lap, seeing a gash along her hair line just above the ear. He picked her up, pushed the raptor door open, praying she was going to be alright, and limped out to meet his med team.

-------------------

Laura opened her eyes and was blinded by the bright lights. Blinking until her eyes had adjusted to the light, she looked around slowly. She was lying on a hospital bed, an IV in her arm, and hooked up to various monitors. A curtain blocked her view of the rest of the room; she could hear voices but couldn't make out words or recognize them. Fear gripped her. She was still on New Caprica; it had all been a dream. She tried to sit up but found she was too weak to do more than lift her head. There were footsteps approaching and she watched the curtain fearfully.

"Good, you're awake." Doctor Cottle, stopped, noticing the terror in her eyes.

"Oh, Jack." She breathed, her head flopping back against the pillow.

"Since when have you called me Jack?" Cottle raised an eyebrow.

"I… I thought that I was still on New Caprica, in detention." She whispered by way of explanation.

"Well, you're safely back on Galactica a long way from that damned chunk of ice." He paused, coming closer to her. "The Admiral gave me your medical record… He didn't read it." He said quickly as her eyes widened again. "And I haven't told him much. Do you want me to tell him what happened?" There was a shout from behind the curtain as he spoke followed by pounding footsteps and Bill burst through the curtain, a myriad of emotions displayed on his face, before she could answer Cottle.

"Laura."

"Hi…" She replied nervously.

"Hi." He smiled, coming to stand beside her bed, taking in the faint bruising on her face, the bandage on the side of her head, and thinness of her form.

"I'll come back…" Cottle did a last check on her IV and monitors, before making his exit.

"I've missed you." He reached down, trailing a hand along her cheek, before bending down to kiss her. She tensed and he stopped looking confused. She pulled his hand from her cheek.

"Please, don't." She wasn't ready for this yet. The hurt in his eyes made her look away from him. "I can't… I'm not ready to be… touched like that… not yet." She closed her eyes against the memories that began to surface. He took in the pained expression on her face and felt the niggling of fear.

"Laura, what did they do?" She opened her eyes and turned her head back towards him.

"I… I don't want to talk about it." Bill nodded, he wasn't going to force her to relive her time in detention so soon if she wasn't ready. "How long was I out?" She changed the subject, swallowing back the tears that were threatening.

"About a day and a half. You had us all pretty worried." Then he smiled at her again. "Starbuck managed to take your ship back. Colonial Ones docked on the Pegasus receiving repairs… She also sent over all of your things. One of the guest quarters is set up for you once you're feeling better." He paused. "Baltar-"

"-escaped, I know." She finished for him. He looked at her, surprised. "I… I saw it while I was in detention… One of the sixes injected me with Chamalla." She whispered, looking at a point just above his right shoulder. Bill shifted uncomfortably. He desperately wanted to hold her, comfort her, but she had made it plain that she didn't want to have any physical contact with him.

"I'm sorry…" He felt guilty, partially responsible for everything that had happened on that planet. If he'd only let her steal the election, if he'd only fought Baltar harder on the issues of defense, if he'd only gone back sooner…

"No, you did the right thing." She smiled slightly at him, slowly reaching out to take his hand in hers. He felt her gentle squeeze and returned it, his thumb massaging the back of her hand. That's when Cottle returned.

"There's something we need to discuss." Laura's hand suddenly gripped Bill's with surprising force and what little color she had quickly drained from her face. Cottle didn't seem to notice and continued on. "When you were in the Cylon detention, they took a blood sample from you… and found some abnormalities in your blood. From what I've heard about the Cylon doctor who was treating, I'm not sure if the rest of them know about you or not."


	8. Chapter 8

Simon slowly became aware of the others around him. He blinked, bringing the dimly lit area into sharper focus. They were all smiling at him. Why were they smiling? They should be furious with him. For that matter, why was he alive?

"Welcome back Simon." He turned to look at the Six who had addressed him. "You're wondering why you're still here?"

"Yes."

"We believe you may still be of use to us. We'd rather not start boxing fellow cylons if you can still help us…"

"And Leoben?" Simon asked, wondering just what sort of use to them he was. It would most certainly involve the Roslin woman…

"Ah, yes. Your partner in crime… He's downloading as we speak." So Leoben hadn't made it out either… Did that mean that Laura Roslin hadn't escaped?

"What sort of help?" And her grin if possible, grew wider.

-------------------

"What are you saying Doctor?"

"Considering how hard they worked to create Hera, and now that they believe she's dead, if they know about these abnormalities, then Ms. Roslin here may effectively take her place."

"They said I played an important role in their scriptures." She said quietly causing both men to turn and look at her. "That's what one of the number six models said before she injected me with the chamalla… She said that if I'd survived being a seer once, I could survive it again. And they kept saying they had a plan for me and that they needed to keep me alive for it… That was before Si- their doctor took a sample of my blood." She paused, struggling with the lump in her throat. "I don't think they knew about my blood."

-------------------

Leoben jerked awake with a start. Awake? Oh no. He looked around quickly, taking in the broad smiles on his fellows' faces.

"No… Don't say it. I'm not really welcome here. You might as well box me now because I refuse to help any of you anymore with anything."

-------------------

"Gentlemen, we don't know how much they know nor what exactly they had planned for me and standing here arguing isn't going to change that." She finally snapped. She was tired, aching, and sick of people talking about her as if she couldn't hear them. Bill at least had the dignity to look slightly ashamed of himself.

"Admiral, I need a private word with my patient before she goes back to resting."

"Of course…" Bill left hesitantly, looking worried. Cottle waited for a moment; to be sure the Admiral was out of earshot.

"Do you want me to tell him or not?" Directly to the point.

"I… I can't." She whispered. "I can't face it yet."

"Alright… But you're going to have to talk to someone about and I'm probably not the best choice for that." He watched her pick at the plain sheets in front of her, avoiding his eyes. "Try and get some more sleep, that's what your body needs right now." And he left her to her thoughts.

Sleep… She'd been doing a lot of sleeping lately and she really did not feel like subjecting herself to what the dream world probably had in store for her. She settled back against the pillows carefully and stared up at the ceiling, her eyes stinging.

-------------------

Leoben looked up as the door opened to see Simon enter, looking concerned. "So they downloaded you too."

"Yeah…" Simon murmured distractedly.

"They asked for your help, didn't they?"

"Yes, but that's not what's confusing me… They didn't ask one question about Roslin…"

"They're trying to mess with our heads." Leoben chuckled. "Too bad I know all too well the tactics involved. I've been ignoring them."

"I know that's what they're doing; I just don't understand why they're taking this approach with me." Leoben shrugged in response.

"They don't understand why you did what you did, so they're taking the safer approach. I had a very obvious reason for helping Laura, but they can't see what yours were." Leoben wasn't exactly sure he had Simon's reasons pegged down either and that worried him. Simon nodded and sat down heavily on the couch beside him.

"So, partner, what do we do now?"

"First we look for bugs and then we talk." Leoben responded, looking around the room.

-------------------

"Hey, Chief, I brought you some scrap metal." The Chief's eyes widened, taking in the carts of broken and disabled centurions behind her.

"Geez, Starbuck, did you have to take on the entire Cylon army?"

"Ah, you know me Chief, nothing in moderation… Besides you should be able to melt these frakkers down for replacement parts."

"Yeah, that's true… Where'd they come from?" He asked, pulling an arm from one of the carts and examining it.

"From Colonial One."

"What?"

"They were using it as their HQ so it was pretty heavily protected. The ship got chewed up pretty bad, we were lucky we managed the jump."

"You always were a lucky one…" Chief grumbled and Starbuck grinned widely. "Why didn't you just take one of the civilian transports?"

"I thought it was time that someone got those mother frakking Cylons of Madam President's mother frakking ship." Chief grinned back.

"I guess you might have a point there…"

-------------------

"Dad?" Bill looked up from his desk at the sound of his son's voice.

"Lee?" He stood up, gesturing for Lee to have a seat.

"I heard she was awake…"

"Yeah, she woke up 3 hours ago."

"How… How is she?" Lee asked nervously.

"Physically, Cottle says he should be able to release her in a few days, though it'll be a while before she'll be able to take back her full work load. I'm worried about her emotional recovery though… Something really bad happened down there and she won't talk about it…" He admitted.

"Do you think Kara and I could visit her?" Lee asked uncertainly.

"I'm going back in an hour, why don't you and Starbuck come with me and I'll ask her."


	9. Chapter 9

"Laura?" She opened her eyes, groaning inwardly at having to deal with another person. She pushed herself up on the pillow as far as she was able, before turning to look Bill in the eye. "Um… Lee and Kara are here… They were wondering if they could come see you."

"Of course." She sighed. She knew they meant well but she really didn't feel up to putting on her strong façade. "Go ahead and send them in." As Bill left her curtained off area to go retrieve the duo, she struggled to pull a smile onto her face.

"Hi…" A tentative looking Apollo step through the curtain followed by his grinning blond partner in crime.

"Hey Madam President." She smiled and nodded to them in response, not yet sure she had full control of her voice. This wasn't awkward in the slightest…

"Uh…" Poor Lee looked very uncomfortable but still walked around her bed to take one of her hands in his. "How… How are you feeling?" Lee could have kicked himself as her smile faltered for a moment. Laura looked down and cleared her throat.

"Better… Although the good doctor has me pretty drugged up at the moment so…" She trailed off and Kara sat down carefully on the other side of her bed.

"I thought I should let you know that I personally saw to it that Colonial One was recovered during the escape. Although it'll be a while before she's ready to fly again… I may have gotten a little trigger happy on the Cylons who didn't get out of my way fast enough…" Laura's smile didn't feel quite so forced now.

"I'm sure they quickly realized their mistake." Kara smirked at her.

"Damn straight." She replied firmly. Now that some of the tension had been released from the air around them Lee eagerly joined the conversation.

"I'm afraid it may be awhile before we manage to make it livable again… Baltar doesn't seem to have been very concerned with cleanliness." He pulled a face, making Thrace laugh.

"Why should he have been? He was living in his head anyway… crazy frakweasel." Laura turned away from their bantering, remembering that not only was he responsible for all of this but that he had also escaped. That she had allowed it to happen. Her eyes met Bill's and he seemed to take his cue from the pain he saw hidden within them.

"Alright you two. The President and I need to talk."

"Talk, my ass…" Kara muttered as she followed Lee out. Bill waited until their footsteps died away.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry, I should have waited… Those two can be trying at the best of times."

"No, no. It's alright… I'm just tired." She lied quickly. Looking at him, she knew he wasn't buying it.

"Laura…" He started, not sure how to continue. She turned away.

"I really am tired Bill… I… I'd like to be alone right now." Alone? That word had stabbed into his heart.

"Don't, don't shut me out Laura. I can help, I want to help." He pleaded with her, trying to hold her eyes. She looked down at her hands. He stood there for a moment longer then sighed. "Alright. I'll be back after my shift in CIC this evening." He looked back at her one last time before stepping out through the curtain. Had he stayed a moment longer he would have caught a tear slipping through her control to fall down her cheek.

-------------------

Kara climbed out of her viper to be confronted with an enraged Chief. "Did you need something Chief?" She asked exasperatedly. She had just finished a rather long CAP and since she had missed out on lunch, she was famished.

"Give me your sidearm." His voice shook with suppressed rage.

"Come again?" What the hell?

"Give me your sidearm Lieutenant. There is no way I'm allowing you to walk around on my ship with a loaded weapon, not now that I've seen what you've done to Colonial One. You're damn lucky the ship didn't explode with all the damage you did."

"Hey, I wasn't the only one firing a weapon on that ship! The Cylons were the ones shooting everything!" She replied hotly. Like she could have possibly missed that badly that many times! Perhaps the Chief needed to be reminded who the best shot was on board this ship… Maybe he needed a demonstration. She glared at him, too bad he was so good at he's job, he'd be missed. And, of course, the Admiral probably wouldn't appreciate her shooting his deck chief even if she was provoked.

"Do you have any—" He broke off as a small hand touched his arm. He looked down into the face of his small wife.

"Galen, why don't you go check on Nicki." Chief glared once more at Kara before stomping of towards his office.

"What the hell was all that?" Kara demanded. She'd come in contact with the Chief's ire before but she'd never been confronted with such rage.

"Starbuck… He's really stressed out right now. It was bad enough that when we got back he found out that over half our birds were in need of repair, that not only had Galactica taken heavy damage during the exodus, but most of the repairs made before were pretty slap shod but… This morning when we went to look at Colonial One on Pegasus he damn near cried. There's a huge list of things that need to be fixed and we don't have some of the parts we need, the man power we'd need, or the time to properly repair her."

"Can't… Has he checked the black market for parts? And I know that any pilots not on rotations would gladly pull some extra hours." Surely the situation wasn't as bad as Cally was making it out to be.

"He hasn't had a chance to check the market, but he's not very hopeful. Most ship parts would have already been used by now. And if he did manage to find what we need, the price would probably be too high." She paused looking around sadly. "And there's no reason to start any repairs if we don't have some of the parts… It's pretty likely that we're going to have scrap Colonial One for metal and parts."

"No. I won't accept that. Soon as Chief gets off, tell to get his ass over to the Prometheus. I'll start a collection going around the ship and I'll make sure we get what we need to barter for parts." She had not gone through all the trouble of taking that ship back from the Cylons to have it scrapped.

-------------------

"Your gods abandoned you, your people turned on you." He finished unbuttoning her blouse and his hands moved to her pants… "Your friends betrayed you." …unhooking them, pulling the zipper open… "And your fleet jumped away months ago, leaving you to die." …and with a violent tug, pulled them off her.

"No! They'll be back!" She screamed, clawing at his arms as they pinned her shoulders down.

He pressed the full length of his body down against her, preventing any further struggles. "Don't lie to yourself. You know they cut their losses and ran." His breath was hot against her face. She tried vainly to twist away from him.

"He'll be back, that I KNOW." She hissed. He moved off her with a chuckle, which was accompanied by the sound of a zipper and a rustle of clothing. Then his hands were on her bare thighs, forcing them apart. She tried to resist, tried to stop him but his superior strength won out.

"This is going to happen whether you fight me or not." He murmured in her ear as one hand divested her of her underwear. "Just pretend I'm the Admiral, hmm. It'll make it more pleasant." She pushed against him, revolted. He was NOT Bill, and no one's imagination was big enough to pretend otherwise. He positioned himself between her legs. "Just think about Bill Adama. It'll be easier." And he thrust hard into her.

"You're not Bill!" She screamed, sitting bolt upright in her hospital bed, ripping the IV needle out of her hand in the process. The pain in her hand brought her back from the quite different pain of her dream. Taking deep breaths she noticed the lights had been dimmed before Cottle pushed through the curtains.

"Damn it, Laura, I've got other patients trying to sleep and—" The look on her face stopped him cold then he noticed her bloody hand. "Damn it." He muttered again, coming closer to take a look at it. When she pulled away from him, he met her frightened eyes apologetically. "Laura, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." He ran a hand over his face. "I never did get the whole bed side manner thing down." She swallowed dryly before holding her shaking hand out to him.

"You should really try to work on that." She whispered, clenching her teeth as he began to none-so gently wipe the blood from the back of her hand.

"Yeah…" He agreed distractedly.

"What time is it?" She asked as he pulled a roll of gauze from a pocket.

"0100." He replied shortly, thinking he was getting to old for the constant sleep deprivation he was now living with. She looked at him, startled.

"Bi—the Admiral told me he was going to stop by…" She regretted her early words to him. Maybe he'd decided it wasn't worth the trouble…

"He came by hours ago, but you'd just fallen asleep so I ordered him out."

"What? Why?" Now Bill was definitely going to think that she didn't want to see him, that she'd told Cottle as much.

"You needed your sleep. Besides, his last visit left you pretty upset."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** _Sorry for the overly long wait… Life's been far more "interesting" than I should like. But fear not, I have not abandoned this tale. I'm determined to see it through to the end even if that takes years! Ok, hopefully not years… Months, maybe. Anyway, without further ado, the long awaited Chapter 10:_

"Come on, Bill." Laura grabbed his hand impatiently, pulling him along. He sped up obligingly, smiling at her excitement. "We're almost there." Then suddenly the trees parted, opening up into a decent sized clearing. To the left a stream cut through the open ground and it was indeed as clear as glass as Laura had said. The ground was coated in soft moss with generous sprinkles of beautiful delicate wild flowers. "Isn't it beautiful?" He could only nod numbly, still in awe of what less than three years ago he wouldn't have paused more than a moment to look at. Finally dragging his eyes back to the redhead who had led him here, he found himself once again overwhelmed by beauty. She was smiling happily at him, her green eyes sparkling with nothing but joy. There was none of the sadness or stress clinging to her expression as there had been constantly while she was president.

"You're beautiful." Her smile turned slightly shy and her eyes drifted away from his.

"Thank you." She whispered in response, before busying herself with setting up the picnic they had packed. Looking back up at him, she changed the subject. "I'm thinking of building the cabin over there." She pointed to the side of the stream and he considered the spot.

"Your cabin wouldn't be very big…" He pointed out.

"As long as it's big enough for two, I won't mind." It took him a moment to realize what she had just said. He turned quickly to look at her again to find that amazing happy smile on her face again.

"Careful, or I might just have to start building this cabin today."

"Would that be so bad?" She asked her smile turning into a smirk. Good question… Would it be so bad? He looked away from her, he had a duty to stay up in the Galactica and watch over New Caprica. The Cylons could find them and there were too few of his crew still in orbit as it was. He looked back at her to see her expression had fallen as she too was thinking what he was.

"One day, Laura, one day." She nodded, trying to smile again.

They ate their picnic in silence, enjoying each others company and their surroundings, neither of them wanting to break it. But as the food diminished the silence started to become oppressive.

"Why don't you walk me through your cabin?" He suggested, standing up and offering her an arm up which she accepted and together they walked over to the spot she'd pointed out earlier.

"Well… There would have to be a big kitchen because—"

"Because you used to love cooking and miss being able to." He finished for her, grinning at the fact that she had mentioned the kitchen first.

"Exactly." She agreed, before detailing all the different kitchen appliances she'd love to have. " Then of course there would have to be a dining room. Big enough for friends but intimate enough for dinner for two. Preferably with a nice big window." He followed her around the small space as she described the dining room as well, then came a living room and studio where she could start painting again. At this point she stopped and he noticed a slight blush creeping across her cheeks.

"You seem to be forgetting two very important rooms." He reminded her.

"Yes, well, those would both be upstairs." She replied, clearing her throat, making him wonder just where her thoughts had gone when they had turned to the bed and bath.

"Are you going to describe those for me too?" He pressed, amused by her embarrassment. She surprised him with her answer though.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise Admiral, you'll just have to wait to find out." He chuckled at that and she beamed at him.

Then heavy footfalls shattered the moment. Whipping round to see centurions stepping out of the trees, he felt a cold hard weight settling in his chest. He felt Laura grab onto his arm and felt her shaking.

"Admiral, we need to leave now." He turned to see Lee gesturing to a landed raptor. He pulled out of Laura grasp even as he was getting ready to tell Lee there was no way in Tartarus they could leave now. Against his will he walked towards Lee and away from Laura.

"Bill!" He heard her scream from behind him but he didn't turn around even though he desperately wanted to.

"Dad, we need to go." Lee urged him on.

"You're right son." The words came from his mouth but he didn't mean them. As the raptor door shut he heard Laura's terrified scream again.

"Don't leave me! Bill!"

"Laura!" He shouted, sitting bolt upright in his rack. It had only been a dream… But it wasn't just a dream, he had left her and all the others, trapped, down on the planet when the Cylons had come back. He hadn't even tried to fight. He'd left them down there for months… It was no small wonder then that Laura didn't want to see him, that he couldn't just pick up where they had left off.

-------------------

"Neither of them are opening up…" Eight was concerned, things had not gone according to plan at all.

"Perhaps we should stir things up a little." Five suggested, a smirk twisting his face.

"Oh? Just how exactly do you plan to do this stirring?" Six asked with a slightly disapproving tone, though she already knew what he was planning to do.

"Come now, sister. It's worth a try, nothing else is working. Besides, if Leoben kills me again, I'll be able to download instantaneously."

"Hmmm." She responded noncommittally. "Fine, but I want a Three monitoring you."

"Don't trust me? I'm hurt."

"You've already disregarded our carefully plans on more than one occasion, _brother_." Eight reminded him, agreeing with Six that they needed to keep an eye on him as well.

"I think we should also ask Ga—our guest for information. He did have access to both the Galactica and Colonial one, and though neither of them trusted him, he was close to both the President and the Admiral." Six added. Eight was sure that wasn't the only reason she wanted to talk with Baltar, but wisely kept silent.

"Shall I make sure the room stays ready for her return to us?" Eight asked, more for a reason to have something to do than anything else.

"Yes, that would be wise. We wouldn't want anything to go wrong… Five, I'll have a three meet you outside their room."

--------------------

"Alright, shut your yaps and listen up. The reunions can wait." Starbuck shouted over the loud chattering of the pilots that she'd called together in the pilots' ready room. The noise dropped down quickly as all eyes focused on her. "By now, I'm sure everyone's heard the rumors about the President… I'm not going to confirm or deny anything at this point, since I don't know any specifics myself, but I visited her yesterday and she looked pretty beat up. We all owe her our sorry asses at least ten times over so I think the least we could do is make sure she's got her home to go back to once Cottle's let her out of sick bay. Her ship was heavily damaged during the exodus and, of course, the sleaze-ball frak-weasel Baltar didn't keep the place very clean. I want everyone to start collecting things that could be used to barter for new parts and all of you to start volunteering off-duty hours to help fix up Colonial One." Starbuck looked out over the crowded and was glad to see numerous people nodding and determined faces. She hefted a large crate onto the table beside her. "All donations should go in here… I want to see this crate overflowing by the end of today. Tell the rest of the crew what's going on and get their help. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" Reverberated loudly around the room, a few pilots even snapped off salutes.

"Good hunting! Dismissed."

---------------------

Cottle pulled the curtain behind closed and stretched. His back was killing him and he hadn't had a cigarette yet this morning, today was obviously going to be one of those days. That thought was confirmed when he went to check on Roslin and found she'd disappeared.

"Ishay!" He growled loudly, spinning around. He did not have time to play hide and seek with his patients, and he had expressly ordered that Roslin not be allowed to go anywhere without at least one nurse to keep an eye on her.

"Yes sir?" Ishay quickly materialized from behind a curtain to his left.

"Where the frak is the President?" Ishay froze, her eyes tarting behind him.

"She should be in her bed…"

"Obviously, she's not. I told you to keep an eye on her, to do hourly checks on her vitals…"

"I had Harvey check on her about an hour ago… I'm sorry sir, we're so busy, I didn't see her leave or get a chance to speak with him yet."

"Damn it. Harvey!" He really, really needed to get a different job… and a cigarette, a cigarette would be so good right now. A short, nervous looking young man approached him cautiously. Harvey knew what that tone meant.

"Yes sir?"

"Where is the President?" Cottle ground out.

"You mean she's not back yet?"

"Back?" Cottle's eye brow rose, had he not told them that she was not to be allowed to move unless it was urgent.

"I helped her to the showers a little over an hour ago, she should have been back by now." Harvey explained, as if that should have obviously been what he meant by "back".

"The showers…" Cottle took a deep breath and counted to ten, trying to remember that Harvey was new. It didn't help. "I told you not to let her go anywhere alone. Why didn't you stay with her?"

"She said she wanted some privacy… Which made perfect sense, I mean I am a man and it would have been awkward. And she said she'd be careful and ask someone for help if she needed it getting back." He explained, not seeing why there was a problem.

"And you believed her?" Cottle asked incredulously as Ishay smacked a hand to her forehead, the universal gesture made when faced with stupidity.

"Well, yeah. She seemed sincere and didn't have to much trouble getting to the showers. I mean she's the president and—"

"She a bloody politician!" Cottle shouted, cutting him off. "Which means she's a very accomplished little actress. I told you not to leave her alone!" Cottle stormed off towards the showers, Ishay close on his heels. "I'll deal with you later!" He shouted over his shoulder at a thoroughly confused Nurse Harvey.

-------------------

"Sir, she's over there." Ishay pointed to a shower at the end of the row that had a crumbled form on its floor.

"Frak." Cottle swore again as they reached her, noticing that she was shaking violently and her lips were blue. He quickly shut off the freezing water. "She's hypotermic, Ishay grab a robe and some towels." They bundled her up in the robe and towels before caring her back into sick bay. "Hot water bottles now!" Cottle shouted at the nurses that had stopped what they were doing to stare at them. They placed her back in her bed and began to place the hot water bottles all around her thin frame before piling on blankets.

-------------------

He pulled out of her and she lay there gasping, thanking the gods it was finally over. Then he flipped her over onto her stomach. "No!" She screamed, horrified, struggling against again. He hit her hard over the head again she felt her body go limp. She tried to pull away, but she didn't have any strength left. "No, don't! Please!" And he pounded into her backside as screamed at him, pleading for him to stop. He just laughed at her, before wrapping his hands around her neck from behind and starting to squeeze. She struggled to breath, tears spilling from her eyes. It was too much, she couldn't take this. She thought of Bill, of the few wonderful days they had spent together after the election and before Baltar had ordered her planet side. She tried to focus on how much she had enjoyed those few days but gods it hurt… it hurt.

------------------

Three hours later, after Cottle had triple and quadruple checked anything and everything that in the slightest way related to the president's health, did he finally deem her stable enough to go without his constant supervision. He ordered Ishay to have someone check on her every quarter of an hour. He wondered who the little girl was who seemed to now be following Ishay around but didn't ask, he had something he needed to deal with now that Roslin was out of harms way. He went looking for that idiot boy Harvey.

It didn't take long to find the boy, since sick bay wasn't overly large. He grabbed the boy by the collar and hauled him into his office. By the time he forced Harvey into a chair, the boy was visibly shaking. He rounded his desk, not trusting himself to look at the boy, and instead dug out a box of cigarettes. Lighting one up, he took up long pull on it before speaking.

"Congratulations, you damn near killed the President." He still refused to look at him. Harvey had started sweating by now and at these words had seemed to shrivel into his chair.

"Sir, I didn't mean... I never intended… She told me to…" He tried to explain, stuttering.

"I gave very specific orders not to let her go anywhere alone." Cottle finally rounded on the boy, unleashing a death-glare that would easily rival the Admiral's, if not the President's.

"But she said…"

"She's a torture victim!" Cottle shouted at him. "You knew that. How in tartarus could you even think leaving her alone might be a good idea?!?"

"I-I… She—"

"From now on you are on bedpan duty and when you get off duty you well report to the brig."

"But sir!"

"You disobeyed a direct order and nearly killed a patient!" Harvey was close to tears by now. He hadn't meant any harm and she had been so nice and reassuring. He hadn't even considered that she might not be as fine as she had said she was.

"How long do you want me to report to the brig?" He asked meekly.

"Until I say otherwise." Cottle snapped. "Get out of my office." Harvey practically ran to the door. Cottle sighed, taking another pull off his cigarette, it was definitely going to be one of those days.

------------------

Ishay watched sadly as Harvey carried a stack of used and emptied bedpans across the room to be sterilized. Everything about his posture spoke of defeat and misery. Perhaps when she was done with her shift she'd visit him in the brig and try to soften Cottle's blow. She felt a tug on pant leg and looked down at the little girl that had been following her on her rounds with teetering footsteps. The child was frowning at her sad face and she smiled.

"Come on little one, just let me look in on one more person, and then I'll see about getting you something to eat." The little girl smiled happily and trotted after her. She pulled the curtain aside to reveal the President's bed. She felt a hard yank on her pants again. The little girl was staring at the President with wide eyes, almost as if she recognized her. "Do you want to see?" Ishay asked. When the girl nodded she picked her up and brought her closer to the bed.

"La-La!" The girl launched out of her arms onto the President's bed. The President stirred slightly before opening her eyes. "La-La." The little girl repeated wrapping her arms around the President's neck and crying into her shoulder.

"Isis?" Laura looked down at the girl, shocked to find her here, before lefting her tired arms to hug the girl back. "Shh. What's wrong Isis?"

"La-La go aw-hay. Mama no wakey." Isis wailed into her shoulder. Laura looked up at a stunned Ishay for a better explanation.

"The woman she came in with is in a coma…" Ishay supplied, still confused. Laura focused on Isis again, part of her glad for the distraction.

"Shh, Isis, calm down. I'm here now. It'll be okay." Of course that was a complete lie, Laura wasn't sure if it would ever be okay again.


	11. Chapter 11 fiendishly clever Storytime?

A/N: Sorry for such a long wait… I've been rather busy, and so few people seemed interested in this story that I let sit on the far back burner

_A/N: Sorry for such a long wait… I've been rather busy, and so few people seemed interested in this story that I let sit on the far back burner. But I've got a bit more time on my hands now and the very few of you who have bothered to review asked so nicely for an update that I forced myself to get back into this. Now if you want to keep the updates coming I expect the rest of you to review, not just the like 5 or so who have been. I hope you enjoy it, I know I enjoyed writing it._

"Hera's blood? You injected her with Hera's blood?" The six stared at him in shock.

"Well yes… I mean seeing as Hera was a hybrid of both cylon and human physiology it was pretty safe to assume that her blood was an amalcom…" He frowned at her, she didn't seem to be interested in what he was saying. She had come into the room they'd locked him in and started flirting with him like she used to back on Caprica, but just when things might have turned interesting, she had started asking questions about that Roslin woman.

"She's the Hera to his Zues, the scriptures were speaking metaphorically." The six continued to think out loud, completely ignoring him. "We must get her back, she's even more important than we originally thought." She made to leave but he called her back.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, very frustrated with the way this meeting was turning out. She turned and gave him a predatory smile.

"Thank you so very much for your help Gaius." Then she swept out of the room, locking it behind her, leaving him wondering what had just happened.

--

Simon was surprised when the knock on the door came, he had thought that his brothers and sisters had given up on them. Leoben, on the other hand, just wondered why she had bothered to knock at all.

"You'll have to unlock the door," Leoben called cynically, not bothering to get up from his seat on the couch when she entered.

"Have you reconsidered?" Six asked, skipping false pleasantries and getting straight to the point.

"No."

"Does he speak for you?" Six turned to Simon who had thus far remained silent.

"I will not help you either." Simon replied firmly.

"I'm sorry you won't see reason." And she did look sorry. Of course, that didn't mean anything, they both knew she was a brilliant little actress. "But as it turns out, we don't need your help to get what we want, though it would have made things easier." She smiled at them, enjoying how they had tensed at her words. "Well, this has been fun, but I have a clever and fiendish plot to put into action, so, if you will excuse me." And she quickly left the room, locking the door behind her.

"What did she mean by that?" Simon asked as soon as he heard the lock click.

"Nothing good, obviously. I just hope she's not planning what I think she's planning." Leoben replied, frowning.

"Which would be what exactly?"

"Think about it for a moment, it should be obvious. We're living computers, computers can store and share data—"

"Oh hell." Simon interrupted, finally realizing what Leoben meant. "So simple and yet we can't do a thing about it now… Not after we've already been downloaded."

"We'll just have to hope the humans aren't stupid enough to fall for it." Simon noticed Leoben didn't look as confident as he sounded

--

It was late when Bill walked unobtrusively into sickbay. He didn't want to attract anyone's attention, he just wanted to check on Laura, to see that she was still there and getting better. He thought that she would be asleep by now but as he neared her curtains he heard voices.

" 'Nother, 'nother."

"Isis, it's past your bedtime. You need to settle down and go to sleep." He paused outside the curtain, not wanting to disturb them but desperately needing to hear her voice.

"One moor Lala. Peese?" Isis pleaded, and Bill imagined her giving Laura the sad puppy dog look.

"Alright, but this is the last one and I mean it. It's past Lala's bedtime too." He smiled, he kind of liked that nickname. "Now what kind of story do you want?"

"One 'bout a pricess 'n a nigh in amor" Bill's smile widened as he listened, apparently Isis still had mastered language.

"One about a princess and a knight in shining armor?" Laura questioned, the teacher in her coming through as she carefully pronounced the words Isis had mispronounced.

"Yes peese."

"Ok. Once upon a time," There was a rustling of sheets and Bill could tell that Isis had snuggled down into the bed and made herself comfortable. "There was a princess—"

"Was she a bootiful pricess?" Isis interrupted.

"Many people thought so, but sometimes she couldn't believe that."

"Why?" Isis asked, sounding confused, as if she couldn't understand why someone wouldn't believe what someone else said.

"You're still too young to understand this, sweetheart, but most girls are very insecure about the way they look." Laura explained, and Bill frowned, thinking she had absolutely nothing to be insecure about. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, even if that did sound clichéd.

"Oh…" Isis still sounded confused.

"Can I continue?"

"Yes."

"The princess was unhappy because her life had not turned out the way she had wanted it to. See her family had all died when she was younger and she felt very alone. She had been too young to rule the kingdom so a wealthy lord had temporarily taken over ruling the kingdom until she felt ready. He had always included her in the decision making process but when she started to disagree with how he was running things he would get angry and yell at her. The princess should have just taken back control of her kingdom but she was scared she would make a mistake and the Lord was very good at persuading her that she wasn't ready yet."

"He bad." Isis observed, obviously enjoying the story so far. Bill was also listening intently, but for completely different reasons. He had realized pretty quickly that this wasn't just some made up story.

"Yes he was, but the princess had a hard time saying no to him because he had a way of making unsure of herself and her abilities. Then one day he made a decision to send soldiers to a town that been refusing to pay taxes because they thought the taxes were too high and didn't leave enough money to be able to buy what they needed. The princess had known about the town and had gone there the day before to talk to the people and try to find a way for them all to work together. She had made progress and the town leaders had agreed to come to the castle and talk to the Lord about the taxes. But when she told the Lord what she had done, he got very angry. He wanted to send the soldiers in and make an example of the town, so no one would try to question him again. The princess was so angry that she forgot to be afraid and started to argue with him, trying to make him change his mind. She told him that if he sent soldiers to the town people would get hurt, but he didn't care."

"Why?" Isis asked suddenly, because she couldn't believe that he wouldn't care if he hurt people.

"Well, he had never met any of the people and didn't understand why they were opposing him. He just saw that they were threatening his rule so he was trying to get rid of that threat as quickly as possible. But what he wanted to do was wrong and the princess knew that. She told him she wouldn't let him hurt the townspeople and told him she was taking back her throne. This made him even more angry and he tried to banish her from the kingdom."

"Oh no!" Isis cried, clearly very worried for the princess.

"Shhh. You have to be quiet Isis, other people are sleeping." Laura reprimanded her gently.

"Sorry." Isis whispered.

"It's alright, Isis. Now where was I?" She paused to pick up her train of thought. "Oh yes. He tried to banish the princess but the princess said she would not go quietly. She said she would fight him every way she could because he had no right to keep her throne or to hurt anybody. Then she went to her room in the castle and cried."

"Why?" Isis jumped in again with that impatient curiosity all young children seem to possess.

"Because not only was she upset about the Lord ordering soldiers to the town and about him trying to steal her throne, but early that day she had been told by the royal physician that she had a deadly wasting disease that he couldn't cure."

"Oh no… Is she going to die?" Isis whispered, horrified that her beautiful princess would die and the evil Lord would win.

"Why don't you listen to the rest of the story to find out?" Laura suggested.

"Ok… I hope she gets better."

"Don't worry, sweetie. Now the princess didn't have time to wallow in self pity because she had to go over see the makings of a new school. The princess loved children and had even been a teacher for a little while before the Lord had made her stop. The new school was going to be put in an old military fort that the Lord had decided was no longer needed. She was going to see the Commander in charge of the fort to make sure that he would turn the fort into a proper school that would be safe for the children. She went with a long procession of people, because this new school would be important and a lot of people wanted to see the fort. When she arrived, she saw that the fort would need a lot of work to be made into a school. But when she tried to bring up what she thought needed to be changed with the Commander, he got angry and argued with her, telling her there was a reason things were the way they were and that they shouldn't be changed."

"Is he a bad man too?" Isis asked, worried that no one would love her princess.

"She thought so at first, but that was because she didn't understand him and he didn't understand her. She thought he was being stubborn and wouldn't listen to a woman and thought she was stupid. And he thought that she was condescending and rude and just a silly princess who didn't really know anything about the world. But they were both very wrong. On her way back to the castle, the kingdom was attacked on all sides by another kingdom from the other side of the mountains."

"Oh no! Is she ok?" Bill was starting to think that maybe this story was a little too scary for Isis, he was certainly finding it distressing.

"She was very scared, but she was fine. The Commander's son had provided her with an escort and saved her when their carriage was attacked by two of the enemy's knights. The princess quickly realized that there was no way her kingdom could defeat this enemy and decided to try and find as many survivors as she could so she could lead them to a new safe land. She managed to get together a caravan of over 5 thousand refugees and she started to try to figure out how they would share resources when they were spotted by one of the enemy's scouts."

"Oh no!" Isis gasped, terrified that after everything the princess had been through, she was going to be killed.

"Shhh. The princess held a quick conference with the Commander's son, her driver, her aide, and a high ranked noble on what they should do. Her driver said they should try to get everyone that was on foot squeezed into the carriages but the Commander's son pointed out that they didn't have time. They could already hear the thunderous pounding of the enemy's horses riding towards them. The princess realized that the only way any of them were going to survive was if the carriages took off now. She was going to have to leave those who weren't in carriages behind. She gave the order for all the carriage drivers to make the horses go as fast as possible and to head towards the old fort, which was the closest safe place she could think of. As the carriages galloped away the people being left behind screamed for them to wait, but the princess knew they couldn't or they would all be killed. Some of the people screamed curses at her. One woman yelled that she hoped the princess would rot in hell."

"That not nice." Isis was clearly very upset with how things were going for her princess and Bill couldn't blame her. He had known that it had been touch and go before the fleet joined Galactica at Ragnarok station but why hadn't anyone told him about **that**? He had been a complete ass to her, when she must have been devastated.

"No it wasn't, but the woman was scared and angry and lashed out because she didn't know what else to do. But it hurt the princess. She hadn't wanted to leave them all behind, she didn't want anyone to die. She thought the woman was right, she was going to hell for abandoning all those people. But she had to. When they got to the old fort she was reluctantly greeted by the Colonel, who refused to let her speak with the Commander. She was very frustrated because the Colonel was even meaner to her than the Commander had been and she didn't want to have to deal with his attitude on top of everything else. All she wanted was to get some medical help for some of the people she had brought with her who had gotten hurt before she found them but the Colonel said he couldn't waste people and resources on non-military things because they had a war to fight. She tried to tell him that the war was over and they had lost but he wouldn't listen. Finally the Commander's son convinced the Colonel to give them some medical supplies and said that they would distribute it all themselves."

"Where was the Comader?" Bill winced as Isis botched his old title.

"The Commander had gone to an old supply post that wasn't too far away from the fort to get supplies for his knights but part of the supply post had collapsed trapping him with a smuggler and away from his men. The smuggler turned out to be one of the enemies and the Commander had to fight him for his life. But the princess didn't know this at the time, all anyone would tell her was that he was busy and couldn't meet with her. The Colonel had her and her aide locked in a room and posted guards outside the door. He said it was for their protection but the princess felt like they were being held prisoner there so that they wouldn't cause the Colonel anymore trouble. Then the Commander finally made it back to the fort, though he had been wounded in the fight with the enemy smuggler. He came to speak with the princess when he realized that he couldn't really ignore her any longer. The princess and her aide were trying once again to figure out how to share all the necessary resources the different carriages had with the rest of the carriages when the Commander walked in. The princess was very angry with the way she and her people had been treated so she ignored him until she finished what she had been doing with her aide. Then she tried to convince the very unhappy Commander that they needed to leave and that he and his men needed to protect the refugees she had saved. Once again she tried to explain that the war was over but again her words seemed to fall on deaf ears. But the Commander had heard her and, after being informed of the tactical situation, decided she was right. The enemy had arrived at the fort and was preparing to lay siege. The Commander ordered his knights to attack and keep the enemy busy long enough for the civilian refugees to get away. Then when all the civilians had escaped, the Commander and his knights retreated as fast as they could. The princess and the Commander managed to out run the enemy and when they felt it was safe they held a ceremony to honor all those that they had lost. Then they talked about how they would move forward from there and came to an agreement. The princess would take her rightful place as ruler and the Commander would be in charge of her military. They still didn't understand each other but it was a start in the right direction. The next day they headed out at a fast pace determined to stay ahead of their enemy and find a new place to call home." There was silence for a moment behind the curtain before Isis spoke.

"Is that the end?" She asked, as though she couldn't believe that it was.

"It is for tonight, I'll tell you more tomorrow, but only if you go to sleep right now." There was more sheet rustling soon followed by slightly overdone snores. "Good girl." Laura whispered, and Bill could hear the slight waver in her voice that spoke volumes to him. Telling that story had been hard for her, but she also must have needed it. He decided to come back again tomorrow night to listen to the next installment. He hoped it would give him more insight into how she worked and what he could do to make things right between them again. He missed her and he wanted his Laura back. He wanted to be able to tell her how guilty he felt for leaving her on New Caprica, how scared he was when he heard that she had been taken prisoner by the Cylons, how overjoyed he was that she was back, and how much he loved her. He turned around to find Cottle watching him with an eyebrow raised.

"They say it's impolite to eavesdrop." Jack told him sardonically.

"So they say…" He replied noncommittally, not wanting to explain why he was here or what he had been doing.

"Tomorrow, you should ask to join story time."

"Good night, Jack." He said firmly before heading out of sick bay and toward his quarters.


End file.
